Captivated By The Mafia

One of the places known for high crime rates in Chigonis is Hilltop Park.

In this part of the world, many people are born in the ghetto, the lucky ones are the ones born with a silver spoon.

People are violent and hard-hearted. In the eastern part of Hilltop Park is a gambling point, Sweet Passion, many go in and come out wealthy, but most people are not fortunate. You will think the ones unfortunate in gambling will quit, but they don't. Instead, they steal, borrow, and sell their properties, and use whatever money they get to gamble.

It is a street where everyone knows themselves.

The street and the environs are ruled by a dreaded Mafia, and the family is headed by an invisible man, nicknamed Vee.

No one knows his real name, no one has ever seen him, and no one can guess which house he lives in, so he is called invisible. A ruthless man he is. Not even the Police have any solid information about him. No mafia associate caught by the Police lived past the next few hours. Whosoever, from the mafia, is caught by the police is killed in prison mysteriously.

Vee has been on the police wanted list for a long time, not once, has he been arrested, despite his numerous crimes.

Moreover, no one knows how he looks. Even if he walks the street like a freeman, no one would know. He does his illicit business without a trace. From drug pushing to money laundering to trafficking to murder, the list is endless. Of course, Vee lives in wealth.

It is rumored among children that Vee, eats the heart of the people that fall into his net. It is a rumor, but plenty of children, including adults, believe the rumor. And some imaginative people fed others with the lies that Vee has a deep scar running from his right eye to his neck. Many people believe that too.

”This mafia lord, whose name sends a shiver through the spine of Californians, is he truly as horrible as he sounds?" Adele would ask her mother, one evening.

Mr. Roger, a known gambler in Hilltop Park, is known for his unfortunate luck in gambling but would not stop gambling. Instead, he'll borrow money from neighbors and anyone who cares to lend him some money. He uses whatever money he borrows to gamble. He would do this in faith that he'll triple the initial money he came with, but never have his faith worked. He ended up losing all the money to gambling. Mr. Roger is a heavy debtor, he is owing everyone on the street of Hilltop Park. His debts are so heavy that he retorted to selling his television and everything he owns that he considers valuable. Do you think he used the money to pay up his debts? No, he didn't. Instead, he would the money to gamble and would lose all. Mr. Roger is well known in the gambling point, Sweet Passion, and outside the gambling point, for debt and ill luck. A disgrace to his wife and twenty-two years old daughter, that's who Roger is.

Roger was in more serious debt this time, to the extent he would not walk out of his small rented one-bedroom apartment during the day. Like a bat, he only goes out in the evening because he would rather not run into his lenders.

That evening, before stepping out of his house, Roger thought deeply and hard about how he will get out of the debts he has put himself and his family into. From where he lay, he could hear the police siren blaring outside the window. This kind of vehicle noise is not considered noise anymore because it was regular. The Police are probably chasing a thief or a suspected Mafioso.

Roger breathed in and exhaled loudly. His dark hair was scattered on the bed he lay on. His eyes were on the ceiling as if it held the answers to his questions. After staying in that position for some minutes, he finally decided he would meet one of the Mafioso or the Mafia Boss himself to lend money. After all, the Mafia Boss, Vee, might not be as horrible as he is painted by the people of Hilltop Park.

Roger knew where to meet the Mafioso, which is mainly the Capo. Few of them visit the gambling point. Roger settled on the idea of lending some cash from the mafia family. He knew he was risking his useless life.

That evening, Roger walked down the street of Hilltop Park, wearing a long jacket and torn trousers, though clean. His head was covered in a black hat. He walked with his head down, his eyes searching through the passers-by for familiar people, who might harass him to pay his debts.

The gambling point, Sweet Passion, was filled to the brim when he got there. There is a bar inside the joint, where people who are not interested in gambling, come to take down their frustration on liquor.

Roger took a seat in front of a long table, the long table, separating the bartender and the customers, it also serves as a stool for keeping drinks.

“Just gin,” he said, loud enough for the bartender to hear him. He slapped some money on the table, and the bartender, popularly called Phil, took the money and turned to the bar. Roger heard laughs coming from the gambling table, in the middle of the room. His eyes turned to the gambling table, a young lad, of about twenty years, was crying. The rest of the men at the gambling table were laughing and throwing abusive comments at him. Phil pushed the mug of liquor to Roger, whose attention was now on the mug in front of him.

“I have never seen him here,” Roger said, nodding his head towards the crying lad.

“He is new. Not long before you came in, he bragged about buying the whole place with the sum he came in with,” Phil started. The crying and laughing at the gambling table had not stopped. “He placed a bet with the entire money and lost everything. Heard it was his mother's hospital bill,” Phil concluded. The last part, about the money being the lad's mother's hospital bill, is a rumor. Rumors spread like fire within Sweet Passion about the source of the money you lose to gambling. And most times, the rumors are true.

Roger brought the mug of gin to his lips and sipped it, not taking in much of the content. The crying lad has been sent away from the room for being a crybaby, and not a man.

“People like you should warn kids like him about the danger of gambling,” Phil commented, wearing a mischievous grin. He turned to attend to a customer who just walked in. Phil's comment, which sounded like a mocking statement, grieved Roger's heart. Roger has come to Sweet Passion to forget his problems, but somehow, his problems are even as popular as he is. Instead of feeling relieved of his burdens, he is reminded of them.

From where Roger sat, his eyes travelled to the gambling table, surrounded by men. He looked through the faces and recognized one of the men who is a Capo, Ronaldo.

Ronaldo grinned as he won all the money on the table, after which he stood up and told the rest he was no longer interested in placing more bets. Sweet Passion called people like Ronaldo, wise. Because they quit for the night when they have won enough, but people, like Roger, will place bets with the wins and go home empty-handed.

Roger watched Ronaldo got into his car that is packed outside the building. He waited to hear the car engine roar to life and Ronaldo drove out of Sweet Passion.

As fast as Roger could, he ran out of the building, waving at a cab running distance away. The car stopped in front of him, and he entered.

“Follow that car. Keep a reasonable distance too,” Roger said. The driver started the car engine, driving at a minimal speed, in such a way that his car can't be seen through the side mirror of whosoever car he was tracking.

After driving for minutes, they were driving on another road, a crooked road. Trees on both sides of the road, whose shade blocked the moonlight from touching the earth.

Finally, Ronaldo stopped his car in front of a magnificent mansion. Roger's jaw dropped. He was surprised there is a mansion as big as the one in front of him, in Hilltop Park.

The cab Roger boarded stopped a distance away from the building.

Roger dipped his hands into his jacket and paid the driver.

“Wait around for me,” Roger said, getting out of the car.

The gate of the mansion opened for Ronaldo to drive in. The guards at the gate were armed to the teeth. They shook hands with Ronaldo. Ronaldo walked into the building majestically.

One of the guards sighted Roger from where he hid. He signalled to the other guard, raising his nose to the direction Roger was.

Roger sat on the ground, behind the wall, thinking about how dead he will be if he is caught by the armed guards. Just then, two heavy hands grabbed him on his shoulder. He screamed as they dragged him into the mansion. Never in his entire life has he seen a mansion or entered one. He begged that they spared his life, which attracted blows from one of the hefty guards. They dragged him to a room, which reminded him of a library because the bookshelf was filled with different books.

Ronaldo was standing in front of a table, his head bowed. Opposite the table was a chair, facing back. And in the chair, was a man in a black hat-Vee.

Underneath the black hat, Vee has short, dark hair.

Vee has a muscular build and stands tall and imposing, with a piercing gaze that seems to look right through people.

The guards threw Roger on th